Conducting a field survey of a forest

Entering a forest in order to conduct a field survey can prevent logging before it happens, reduce how much of the forest is logged, or lead Forestry Corporation to be issued with fines and breach notices. 

This will take some preparation and research, but ultimately all you need is a mobile phone, a tape measure and gear to ensure your safety when walking in the bush. This is fun, high impact activity that involves walking through a forest and photographing threatened or protected plants, animals and ecological communities. 

You are legally allowed to enter a state forest unless: 

1. The Forest is listed on this page as closed, or as 'active' on Forestry Corporation's Plan Portal, 
2. There is a sign at the entrance to the compartment being logged saying 'Forest closed due to logging.

The below information is intended to provide a summary of what a field survey entails. See our 'Toolbox for entering and surveying a forest' page or download our pdf Handbook for Entering a Forest for everything you need to know about entering a forest. 

Before a forest has been logged

• Download a timestamp photo app -  we recommend 'Timestamp Camera Enterprise' which is free and available on both Google and Android devices. This app adds date, time, location and GPS locations to photos and videos. 
• Make sure you have a digital mapping program you can view your location while out in the forest and drop pins to geolocate key features. We recommend Avenza Maps which is free allows you to create a map with highly accurate GPS coordinates of timesstamped photos. 
• Consult BioNet Atlas or iNaturalist to get an idea of the threatened flora and fauna known to exist in the forest you intend to survey. If you are on the NSW South Coast explore the Atlas Of Life in the Coastal Wilderness (Moruya to Victorian border) or Budawang Atlas of Life (Kiama to Moruya

Identifying endangered species 

Conducting an environmental survey before a forest is be logged is a highly effective way to prevent logging before it happens, reduce how much of the forest is logged, and ensure endangered and protected flora, fauna and places are not destroyed. 

Forestry Corporation regularly proposed logging operations in compartments that are known to, or very likely to, contain endangered species or locations that are meant to be protected. 

Local environmentalists have had huge success in recent years by entering a compartment that is proposed to be logged, taking photos of endangered species or protected places, and then altering the Environmental Protection Agency of the breaches of logging conditions in the proposed logging coup.

Our Breach Watch Handbook contains a comprehensive compendium of the flora, fauna and ecological communities to survey for, as well as a range of resources to help improve your knowledge of local species and how to identify them.  

After a forest has been logged: Identifying illegal activity 

Despite the already weak regulation, Forestry Corporation and the contractors they hire regularly log in areas they are not allowed to, fail to protect hollow and nest-bearing trees, and cut down giant, protected and oversized trees. 

The aim of surveying a forest after it has been logged is to gather evidence of illegal logging that leads to fines, stop work orders and further public criticism of logging activities.

Fines are ultimately paid for by the taxpayer, as Forestry Corporation is a loss making state owned enterprise. Fines also provide a great opportunity to generate further media attention and build pressure on the government to stop subsidising native forest logging, which would see the practice end. 

It is very likely that you will find evidence of multiple breaches. Download our Breach Watch Handbook for everything you need to know about surveying after a forest has been logged for illegal activity. 

One of the easiest and most common is the felling of giant and oversized trees. It is illegal to cut down any tree with a trunk diameter of over 1.4m, measured at 30cm above ground.

The easiest way to do this is with a diameter tape, but if you don't have one you can just use a piece of string or rope and a standard tape measure.  Wrap it tightly around the tree trunk, measure it with a standard tape measure and divide that number by Pi (3.1415) to get the diameter. 

Other common illegal breaches to look out for include: 

• Logging within 10m of from bushwalking and mountain-bike trails 
• Riparian zones (drainage lines, creeks, streams, rivers), rocky outcrops, rainforest, heath and shrubland, all of which are illegal to log
• Pollution and rubbish, such as petrol, oil, chemicals, and litter left on the site
• Badly made logging roads causing erosion, or eroded or creeks with high amounts of sediment 
• Habitat trees (trees with nests or hollows or, giant trees) have been felled. 
• Any endangered or threatened species living in a compartment that has been logged
• Logging in buffer zones outlines in the additional operating conditions of a harvest map. 
• Loggers are also required to retain eight hollow bearing trees per hectare (these will be marked with a H) but often instead 'protect' dead or small trees. 

Once you have finished your survey, submit your findings with the Environmental Protection Agency by filling in this form.